Premier League will never produce a Lionel Messi, says former striker

Brian Deane became a hero in 1992, after he scored the first ever goal in the FA Premier League – in a match where his double helped his team Sheffield United secure a famous 2-1 win over Manchester United.

Now, the record holder is evaluating the techniques used in the Premier League to develop players – especially local performers – and he is unimpressed with what he is seeing.

Deane believes that packing the competition with foreign players is an idea that could have good effects, but reckons that the plan has not been worked out in good manner overtime by the managers in the Premier League.

“There is a view that more foreign players coming over should help improve [the] technique of the local players, but it’s not that simple,” he told SportsDirect News.

Deane explained that, whilst some foreign players successfully revolutionised the English game, many others have had valueless contributions in the Premier League’s improvement.

Mentioning Italian legend Gianfranco Zola, he praised the work of those who initially motorised the foreign players’ policy, but protested that the Premier League welcomed a dirty aspect after the procedure was rendered fruitless.

“Dennis Bergkamp was another player who made a real difference [like Zola], along with Thierry Henry and Youri Djorkaeff.

“But as more foreign players came over – and ones with less to offer than Zola – so did the increase in diving and pulling.

“That’s because it’s how a lot of foreign players are brought up.”

This can implicitly be linked to Cristiano Ronaldo – a foreign player of Portuguese origin who increased the popularity of the Premier League during his time at Manchester United.

Although Ronaldo went on to be considered as one of the best footballers the Premier League had ever seen, many described him as a nasty diver using the technique of going down too easily on the least challenges.

Probably, for Brian Deane, this perceptible characteristic of Ronaldo is not one that encourages him to place the No. 7 winger in his list of exemplary foreign players who reshaped the Premier League.

The 45-year-old, who had a spell with Portuguese side Benfica, also backed local players to explore other opportunities outside England in order to widen their experience and enhance their own abilities.

“I played for Benfica and saw that even in some of the teams lower down the league, their touch and movement was superb.”

However, the Premier League’s high image as one of the richest leagues in the world has yet to deflect the attention of local starlets away from money, instead of animating them to reach new heights.

Seeing all the challenges encountered overtime and the wrong moves taken by the Premier League leaders, Deane did not hesitate to expose his frank, dispiriting belief, as he asserted: “I don’t think we’ll ever produce a player like Messi.”

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi is widely regarded has the greatest player on the planet at the moment. The Argentinian playmaker has played in Spain throughout his professional career under the Barca jersey.

On a few occasions in the past, Messi was proposed a deal by leading Premier League clubs, but the four-time Ballon d’Or winner has always insisted that he has no intention of moving to England.

DISCLAIMER: This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeFootball Writing Academy and does not represent the views of GiveMeFootball.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article. GiveMeFootball.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

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DISCLAIMER

This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of
GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article.
GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

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